Orwa Nyrabia, the artistic director of leading documentary festival IDFA in Amsterdam, will step down from his position on July 1, which is the end of his present term.
Nyrabia commented: “I have always seen this great role as an artistic endeavor, as a responsibility much more important and critical than being merely a job. I recognize a natural ending for it coming up; a good moment for starting a new chapter.
“My decision is one more way of expressing my love to IDFA and its remarkable team. Change is necessary, especially when at the right moment.”
He announced his decision, jointly with the organization, in the run-up to this year’s festival, which runs from Nov. 14-24, making this upcoming edition the seventh and last under his leadership.
Nyrabia will remain in his role until July 1 “to ensure that the upcoming transition is well-planned and facilitated, and that the early preparations for the 2025 edition continue smoothly,” according to a festival statement.
After taking the job in January 2018, Nyrabia and the festival team revamped its film and industry programs and launched new platforms and initiatives that have become mainstays of the festival, such as the Envision Competition, IDFA on Stage and the Producers Connection. Also, during this period, the organization achieved gender parity across its various sections.
IDFA’s focus on expanding global representation in the sector was a key factor throughout his tenure, and is now embedded in all its decision-making, “making it a gathering where the film community in all its diversity meets up and feels at home,” the festival said.
Some have disagreed with this assessment. Last year, pro-Palestinian protestors took to the stage during the opening ceremony carrying a banner with the slogan “From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free” – a slogan that some allege calls for the destruction of Israel. In a statement later, the festival said: “That slogan does not represent us, and we do not endorse it in any way. We are truly sorry that it was hurtful to many.”
During the past seven years, IDFA navigated a pandemic successfully, adapted to the shifting social and political realities, and the ever-changing documentary landscape, according to the festival.
Together with the board of directors, Nyrabia oversaw major projects, most significantly the restructuring of IDFA as an “institute for documentary culture,” and the opening of the Documentary Pavilion, a year-round space for IDFA in the heart of Amsterdam.
Nyrabia commented: “I am proud of what we have accomplished together, as a team, and with the global film community, over the past meaningful and challenging years. I am grateful for having been trusted to do this, to work with such a great team, and I will gradually, and happily, return soon to the other side, that of those sending their ideas, films, and funding applications and waiting anxiously, and critically, for answers.
“I am also full of optimism, and certain that IDFA will grow stronger and sharper with time, no matter from which direction the wind will blow. It is all about this great art, cinema, about the filmmakers, and all those who need film to heal, to grow, and to see meaning beyond the immediate. I am looking forward to welcoming the world to the 2024 edition of IDFA, and dare to say that it will be one of the best editions ever.”
Marry de Gaay Fortman, chair of IDFA’s supervisory board, thanked Nyrabia for his contribution in the last seven years: “His influence in the artistic field lifted IDFA and has driven the festival as well as the organization to places we never knew existed. Orwa’s vision drives the ambition and while his departure saddens us on the one hand, we also want to give him the opportunity to pursue his ambition and discover new paths. After the festival, IDFA will start the search process for a new artistic director. We are thankful that Orwa is here in the transition period until the end of his contract on July 1, 2025.”
